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Irving Duffy

Irving Duffy

Irving has long held the goal of becoming a personal fitness trainer. Though he tried various gyms and workout facilities, none could compare to the experience he felt at the Clark County Family YMCA. His time at the Y felt completely new and fresh.

“There’s really great engagement here. When you’re connected with other people and you’re able to smile and have a rapport with them, it’s a special thing. You never know how that’s going to impact someone.”

Irving had finally found a welcoming community of open-minded, active and engaged staff, volunteers and members—and he knew he wanted to stay.

“I thought there couldn’t be any better place than the Y. And over time I began to think this would be the perfect place to work.”

When Irving met Liz Wedan, the Senior Director of Membership and Health, he learned about an opportunity to help at the Y as a volunteer. “Liz came up to me one day while I was on the treadmill running, and she said, ‘Hey Irv, we’ve got some positions open up, would you be interested?’ My journey really began from there, now there’s no turning back. I enrolled in the Volunteer Internship Program shortly after.”

“During the internship I had to learn about each piece of equipment in our facility, go through all of our physical training sessions, even the high impact classes, and learn the names of 25 different Clark members. It was all a great experience and I was able to learn a lot.”

Upon completing the internship, Irving was offered an hourly position as a personal trainer.

Today, Irving splits his time between work at the Y, and work at the airport.

“When people here at the Y first found out I was going to work at the airport, some got kind of emotional. My work here isn’t something I can just give up—it has become more of a calling, where I’m impacting people directly.”

Irving is hopeful he will be able to pick up more hours at the Y in the coming months and looks forward to making new connections with members and volunteers in the future.

“The Y has become something special. More than just a place to work, it has become something magical, even spiritual, as far as what we’ve been able to do to bless others.”

Irving believes his relationship with the Lord provides him with the motivation and drive needed for his work. He is also motivated by the community of Y members.

“I hope in the future we’ll be able to continue to have that special partnership with our members, where we cross peoples’ paths and it becomes reciprocal, when we are able to help people and in turn they help us.”

Thank you Irving for sharing our Christian principles of service, respect and love to those in the community. We are grateful that you are a part of our family and wish you the best on your journey as a personal fitness trainer.